


The Fate of the Galaxy

by Daniscats



Series: The Incredible Story of Captain Shepard and the Love that Saved the Galaxy! Drabbles and Misc [19]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Depression, F/F, aftermath of war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 14:24:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21078269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daniscats/pseuds/Daniscats
Summary: Part of the Fictober challenge on the Facebook ME fan fic writer's page. The prompts were 'war stories', day 13 and 'reapers', day 14. This is part of my larger story and fits maybe  between chapters 27 and 28. You don't need to be familiar with the story to figure out what is happening here. Suffice to say, it is over a year since the War ended, the Normandy (and her crew including Liara) are lost and presumed dead. Shepard doesn't have much left and is not in a good place!#MEFFictober2019





	The Fate of the Galaxy

Shepard threw back her second drink of the day and thus fortified, she walked out of her small, dark, windowless apartment to make her way to her job. A job that she despised more with every passing day. But then her personal feelings were almost even less relevant today than they had been during the War. She had her job to do back then and she had one to do today. 

The reapers were gone. The galaxy was saved. The biggest threat that the galaxy had ever known was defeated. Anderson was gone. The Normandy was gone. Her friends were gone. Liara was gone. On some days, Shepard found it almost impossible to believe any of it. On other days, she wished that it wasn't true. 

She used to play a little mental game with herself when she woke up some mornings in her small, dark, windowless apartment. If some wizard or maybe a billions-of-years-old universal intelligence gave her the chance to bring them all back--Liara, the Normandy, her friends, Anderson, and the reapers--would she do it? Regardless of what it would likely mean to the fate of the galaxy? Most days, she didn't like her answer or rather, she didn't like what her unspoken but certain answer revealed about herself. She soon decided not to play that game any longer. Most of the time, her mind could stick to her decision. 

Shepard hopped into her skycar and was just about to punch in the code for Central Operations into the autopilot when her assistant, Lieutenant Astrea, beeped her omni-tool. It automatically hooked into her skycar with the punch of a button. 

"Good morning, ma'am. I hope you are well." Shepard gave her a look, propelling the always formal and polite asari to get to the point. "We have a problem down in Atrium Seven on the Presidium. Apparently, there is a man with a bomb. He is threatening to set it off unless he gets an audience with the Council. Both Alliance and C-Sec forces are present and they have cleared the perimeter of civilians but the perpetrator is holding several people hostage within the estimated blast zone." 

"Understood. I'm on my way. Ask all officers to hold until I get there. You can inform the Council but otherwise, try to keep it quiet. Do we have any info on who this person might be?" 

"C-Sec is trying to determine that now. Their negotiators are en route. I will let you know if I learn anything more. Astrea out." 

Shepard was just landing outside the perimeter when Astrea broke in again. 

"Just got more information about the suspect. He is, or at least he was during the War, High Commander Palius Caelso of the 42nd Army division stationed on Earth during the final battle. After the War, he just kind of disappeared and was presumed dead. C-Sec assumes he got on the Citadel as a worker with an alias before we got the DNA sensors back online." 

"So basically, another soldier gone crazy. Are the professionals here yet?" 

"C-Sec says that they are still trying to get their most qualified PTSD turian specialist negotiator out of his bed. They say he should be there in another 30." 

"Great. Wonderful. Maybe I can get him to sit down and have a beer until the specialist gets here." 

"Um, well, you might be able to do that, I guess." Astrea said with complete earnestness. "You are Admiral Shepard, ma'am, after all." 

"Astrea! If I didn't know better, I would almost believe that I heard sarcasm there." 

"Of course not, ma'am. Please let me know if you need anything else. Astrea out." 

Shepard sighed as she got out of her car. Her success with slowly teaching her young asari assistant sarcasm was one thing. How to contain another 'emotionally compromised' war veteran was another thing entirely. So far, in the 15 months since the War ended, the Alliance and C-Sec had managed to prevent any further killing on the Citadel (after millions were killed during the War) but it had been a near thing more than once. This situation had the potential to blow that statistic up literally and figuratively. Shepard had no idea how to proceed. 

Shepard walked through the police line and towards the C-Sec skycar closest to the suspect. As she walked closer, the subject soon came into view. He was in full combat armor and stood next to a small case which Shepard assumed was his bomb. Sitting on the floor around him were eight civilians who mostly looked terrified. The turian was holding a detonator and was yelling at C-Sec. 

"Stop stalling! I'll do it! Bring the Council here now or I push this button and blow these people to the ancestors! And hurt your precious Presidium too!" 

"Hang on! I told you it's not that easy to get all the Council here. We need more time!" A turian C-Sec Captain yelled back to him. 

"I know what you're doing. It won't work! I've got full armor and shields! Even if one of your snipers takes a shot, they will never get me down before I detonate this bomb!" 

'Probably true if only *one* sniper took a shot', Shepard thought but she knew that they likely had multiple snipers in every direction that had a clear shot of the scene. Still, it would be risky. One twitch of a thumb and the civilians were goners. Not to mention, this section of the Citadel had already been fixed and made to look pretty again and it would make a hell of a mess. 

"That's it! You've got one minute. If I don't see at least one Council Member in front of me in one minute, I'm pushing this button." 

"That's crazy!", the C-Sec Captain yelled. "We can't get anyone here that quickly!" 

"I thought you said they were on the way? That's it. No more talk. One minute!" 

Shepard walked out from behind the skycar and towards the man. 

"Hey!" The Captain yelled after her. "What are you doing? Are you insane? Any closer and you're in the blast zone." 

“You’re assuming I care”, Shepard tossed back over her shoulder. 

Shepard didn't care. She kept walking. 

"Stop right there!" The Turian grew more agitated upon seeing the human woman striding towards him. "Don't come any closer!" 

"I'm unarmed." Shepard held up her hands. "I'm not here to hurt you. You want to talk to the Council, you got me instead." 

"No! I need to talk to the Council! I can only talk to the Council! They need to know something. The fate of the galaxy is at stake." 

"Isn't it always? Well, they aren't here. Instead, you got me." Shepard stood at attention about five feet from the man. "This is how you address a superior officer, High Commander Caelso?" 

"You're Alliance." The man did not seem thrown by the use of his name and rank. "You aren't my superior officer." 

"The hell I'm not! You were last assigned to the 42nd Expeditionary Force on Earth which was under the Command of Admiral Hackett of Alliance Command. I'm Admiral Shepard and I report directly to Hackett. Unless my understanding of turian ranks is dead wrong, an Admiral is higher than a High Commander even if they are in different branches?" 

"Yes, sir!" The turian brought the hand with the detonator up to his head as he saluted. 

"Yeah, you might want to watch what you do with that thing. Personally, I don't care if it goes off or not but these civilians care, I'm sure." 

"Oh." The turian brought his arm down. "Sorry about that. But I have something important to tell the Council about the enemy! The fate of the galaxy is...." 

"So you've said. I'm here. They aren't. Take it or leave it." 

"I can't! I can't trust any one person. Not even you. I..." 

"Shhhh! Not yet." Shepard pointed to the terrified people sitting on the ground. "Let them go and THEN I'll listen to you." 

"That's not going to happen. I let them go, I lose my leverage." 

"Yes, it is going to happen. And who is bigger leverage than the Savior of the Galaxy?" Shepard then addressed the civilians. "Get up. All of you. Get out of here." 

"No!" The turian held the detonator out in front of himself again. "Anyone moves and I hit the button." 

"No, you won't. You do that, you die. Your secret dies with you and then..." Shepard's voice took on a dramatic tone..."the galaxy is doomed! Now, get out of here. All of you. I'm not going to say it again." 

Everyone froze. One young woman looked first at the turian and then Shepard and then back again before finally standing up quickly and making a run for the ring of C-Sec cars. After a few more moments, the others followed, running almost comically fast in their formal dresses and suits. 

"Alright then, shoot." Shepard moved closer to the man until she could have reached out and touched him. "What's on your mind?" 

The man looked at Shepard wild-eyed, unsure what to do for a moment. 

"Well, spit it out! I haven't got all day." 

The turian nodded, seeming to make a decision. He leaned closer to Shepard and whispered to her. 

"The reapers are still here." He leaned back, waiting for a reaction. 

"That's it?" Shepard sighed. "That's all you have?" 

"Are you listening to me? We have NOT defeated and destroyed all the reapers! They are still out there. Waiting. Gathering strength. They can indoctrinate anyone! Just like they did during the War. Just like they did to my whole unit during the War. You might be indoctrinated!" 

"I get it. I really do. I don't know the specifics of what happened to you during the War but it was bad and you can't stop thinking..." 

"I'm not crazy! Just because the reapers were destroyed here doesn't mean that they were destroyed everywhere! We haven't even re-established contact with all systems yet. They are still out there!" 

"No, they aren't. I was there. They are gone." 

"You can't know that!" 

"I'm the only one who can know that." Shepard couldn't help but let out a humorless chuckle at the man's expression. Who's the real troubled person here? Shepard made a decision. She hit some buttons on her omni-tool, creating a zone of electric distortion around them so no listening devices would be able to overhear or record them. Just another war story, one soldier to another. Even if he told, no one would believe him anyway. 

"Do you want to know what really happened?" 

"Yes, sir!" 

"The Crucible docked with the Citadel but the prothean super-weapon didn't work. It was my job to figure out why. I made my way to the controls and you know who I met?" 

"The Illusive Man? The Cerberus Guy? I heard a rumor that he was cooperating with the reapers." 

"Sure. That rumor is true but this was after that. I met a little boy who turned out to be THE reaper. Actually, he wasn't a reaper. It was the most powerful AI the galaxy has ever witnessed and it CREATED the reapers. You're going to love this. This thing created the reapers to save all organic life by killing all organic life and reducing it to a genetic paste! Isn't that nuts?" 

"That makes no sense." 

"I know! I thought the same thing. So, this thing said I had a choice. I could become energy and have my essence, if you will, control the reapers. I could have been a god! Or I could combine the reapers with all organic life in the galaxy, whether they liked it or not. Or I could simply destroy the reapers. All the reapers, everywhere." 

"And that's what you did?" The man asked almost sarcastically, obviously not believing Shepard's story. "What choice is that? Who wouldn't just destroy them?" 

"I agree! It was the only choice but there was a huge down-side. The same thing that would kill the reapers would kill the geth, our allies, and any other AI life in the galaxy. So, I did it. I made the decision to kill them all. Every single geth death is on my hands. And god knows whatever other synthetic races might exist out there. *I* killed them all! The reapers and every innocent AI out there. Hell, I had an AI crewmember on my ship. Edi. She trusted me with her life. Looked up to me. I killed her too.” 

The man was silent for a moment before a look of fury came to his otherwise expressionless turian face. 

"You're an asshole. Just because you don't believe me doesn't mean that you can insult me by telling me some ridiculous story!" 

"I'm not trying to insult you. I'm telling you the truth here." Shepard faced the man dead on and looked him in the eye. “The reapers. Are. Gone. Got that? Forget about them. Forget about the War. Find a reason to live. Or not. It's your choice to make." 

"When the reapers come back, it really will be on your head!" The turian shoved the detonator into Shepard's chest, his shoulder’s slumped, his eyes defeated. She took the detonator from him. She signaled the 'all clear' and the man was soon in hand cuffs. He yelled at Shepard as she turned and moved away. "You think I'm crazy. You're the one who needs help!" 

"Great job, Admiral.” The C-Sec Captain congratulated her as she neared the perimeter. “Spirits! For a moment there, I thought you would be blown to pieces for sure.” 

"Maybe I’ll have better luck next time." Shepard mumbled as she walked past him towards her own skycar. “There’s always hope, right?” 

“I’m sorry, sir? What was that?” 

“Nothing. Carry on. Please refer all press requests and questions to Alliance HQ.” 


End file.
